Sheet feeding apparatus



Dec. 12, 1933. A. BROADMEYER SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 21,

3 nvwvi ot AMertflraadmeyan SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS Filed NOV. 21, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 12, 1933. .A BROADMEYER 1,939,589

' SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 21, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jlh'rlBivM/zqya;

l I I E r FITT IE ulllll Mum Dec. 12, 1933 A. BROADMEYER SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed NOV. 21, 1931 Dec. 12, 1933. BRQADMEYER 1,939,589

SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 21, 1951 5 SheetSSheet 5 Ii gwwznto'c Patented Dec. 12, 1933 11939589 SHEET- FEEDING APPARATUS Albert-Broadmeyen-Harrisburg; Pa, :assignor to- 0. Hickok =Manufacturing Company, Harrl'sburgira wa corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 21,1931

T'Serial No; 576573 51.9 Claims, (Cl. 271 62) In sheet: feeding mechanisms-and particularly thatttype in whichthewsheets are presented as in a; Pile-{so that: the topmost '.are' successively re- .moved, .the= range or; thesizes of sheets that can .be successfully fed has heretofore so'farl asLam aware, been considerably limited :by .reason of the characterof-the ffeeler and its: mounting, this 1feeler 1-as is well known determining the elevation oft-the; pile of sheets. .Theimounting of =theteelerahasubeen such with respect to the feeding device that the partuwhichrests upon the paper cannot-be brought closely toithe. feeding device and; consequently sheets of small area and-onwhich the feeler must resticannot be fed because the'feeler thensis' -so closet-to itsmountingthat it has a not suflicient: leverage to :easily move under theinfluence ofthe underlying pile. 1011801 the *objects. of the; present invention is to; provide an arrangement; of parts which will permit the'feeler tobe brought very close to the feeding device -and "still be sufficiently :distant fromfits mounting to allow its easy movement and-consequently-control the operation. of the pile feeding mechanism.

Another object is to simplify. the control'mechanism amlwmake-it-very delicately responsive to the. actiont of the-feeler.

In the: accompanying drawings: :Figure 1 is.--a'sidewelevationofsa well-known type :of: sheet: feeder in which the-improvements are embodied. V

Figure 2 isa-topi' plan view of a portion of the same. V l

"Figure 3 is anrenlarged plan viewwith portions removed to better illustrate the novelarrangement and .parts.

.rFigure 4 isia side elevationonan enlarged scale with portions removed in order to show the table elevating mechanism; and the control means therefor.

Figure B'isadetail view.ofthe pawl'carrier.

"Figure 6' is a-"detail "view 'of' the bracket support for the detent.

Figure? isa detail view of the 'detent. '='Figure-8 -is-a detail horizontal sectional view on the line 8-8'0f Figure 1.

'Figure 9 isa cross sectional 'view on' the line 9-59 or Figure 8.

Figure IOis a detail sectional view: on the line 10-10of l=.igure 3.

Figurell'is a detail view inz sectiontof the bracket and mounting: for the actuating 1 arm of the. 'detent.

ml bearingior she: feeier rock shaft.

,Figure' 13 is-a sectional for the-pawl.

\Figures -14-and 15 are views inelevation and schematic inrtheir'character showing how different sized isheetsmay, be placed and the-.-mechanism properly related thereto.

In; the embodiment. disclosed, a suitable frame 16 is employed, which includes standards 17. QA shaft- 18 suitably driven, extendsacross .the frame and is provided with -a feeding device'19. This feeding device is in the form of a-suction roller of well-known type, which is connected byta conduit 20 toa vacuum'creating pump .(not shown). In the conduit 20 is the usual valve-2lwhich controls the creation of vacuum in the roller 19 and is automatically operated. These parts, itis believed, are-.so well known that they need no. furtherexposition to those'skilled in the art.

The sheets to be fed by the feeding device 19 are placed inia pile.22 one table 23 that. is mounted, as indicated at 24, to verticallyslide on thestandards 1'7. The table is :supported by sprocket chains 25, that; pass varound sprocket wheels v26 on stub' shafts 27 that-are journaled on thestop ofthe frame 16. .These shafts have worm wheels view of :the mounting '28; meshing with worms. indicatedat 29 (seerFigure4) that are carried by a transverse horizontal shaft 30. V v s V i The shaft 30 is 'providedat one'side of the-(machine with a. ratchet wheel 31 and the teeth of this ratchet wheel are operated oni by a pawl=32.carried by the upper end ofan oscillatory .pawl car- Her 33 journaledonithe shaft 130 alongside the ratchet wheelv 31. .Thepawl carrier is causedto oscillate, its. movement in onedirection-being by gravity and its movement in the other. direction is secured-bye link '34 having a crank mounting 35 on a crank-wheelBG that is fixed totheend of V the-shaftl8. The link-34 is provided with a slot 3'7 in which isiengaged a pin 38mounted in the 9 lower end of the pawl carrier 33. -.It will .be obvious that as the shaft 18 rotates the slotted end of .thehlink 34 will be' given. a reciprocatory movement,.and whenmoving to thelft (Figures '1 arid4) the lower end 'ofithe pawl carrier by gravity moves in the samejdirection, causing ithe'pawl 32 to'ride'over one or 'more'teeth'of the ratchet wheel "31. When thelink 34'moves'tothe -right' the-end-wall of theslot engaging the -pin-38 -will swing the pawl carrierin the opposite direction, 105

and'the pawlengaging behind one or: the teethof the ratchet wheel will cause a partial rotation of the shaft iio. Thiswill efiecta movement of the IFlgure 112 is :a detaihsectionat view of the jourstub shafts:27;and drawing upon the chains 25, will-elevate the-table carrying the pile of sheets therefore is held idle.

hind the shaft 18, which carries the suction roller 19, or in other words, is at the side of the feeder:

toward which the sheets are delivered by the rolle er 19. the rock shaft 39 is a split collar 40, the jaws 41- being connected by a screw 42 having a hand bar 43, by means of which it may be readily turnedto loosen or tighten the jaws upon the shaft 39'. This collar includes an extension 44 having a socket 45 in which is engaged a feeler arm'f46;

The feeler arm, it will be noted by reference to Figure 3, extends across the held by a set screw 47.

shaft 18 above the same and overlies the pile supporting table 23. Slidably mounted on this arm 46 is a bracket 48 which can be secured in any desired position bya set screw 49'. This bracket has secured thereto a depending finger 50 carrying a knife blade 51 that constitutes a'bearing element on the top of the pile 22. On the front projecting end of theshaft 39 is fixed a bracket 52 having a depending lug 53 in which is engaged the offset end 54 of an arm 55. On this arm is adjustably mounted a counterweight 56 that is held in fixed position by a set screw'57. 7

The bracket 52 at its upper end is in the form of a yoke having arms 58 and 59. An actuating arm 60, journaled in the shaft 39, is provided with an upstanding finger 61 that extends between the yoke arms 58 and-59. The finger 61.

is pressed against on one side by a plunger 62 slidably mounted in the arm 58 and yieldingly urged'against said finger 61 by a spring 63 in a chamber 64 formed in an extension of said arm 58; The opposite side of the finger 61 is abutted against by the end of an adjusting screw '65 threaded through the arm 59. r

The arm 6D,'as shown in Figures 3 and 4 extends forwardly alongside the frame 16, and consequently if the feeler arm 46 is raised or lowered, the arm willbe correspondingly raised or lowered. The free end of the arm has a pair of spaced outstanding pins 66 that straddle the rearwardly extending finger 67 fixed to an upstanding detent 68 pivotally mounted at 69. The detent pivot 69 is carried by a bracket 69a. The detent is counterweighted-as shown at 70. The upper end of this detent is movable to and from a position underneath a stop tooth 71 that is fixed upon the rear side of the pawl carrier substantially midway of its length. As shown in detail in Figure 5,' this tooth 71 preferably has a shank '72 fitted in a socket in the pawl carrier and held by a set screwfl3. v a

With this structure it will be evident that when the pile 22 of sheets is at the proper elevation so that the topmost sheet will be fed rearwardly by the'suction roller 19,,the knife blade 51, resting onthe sheets, will hold the feeler'arm. 46 and arm 60 at an elevation to cause the detent 68 to be beneath the tooth 71. The pawl carrier That is to say, as the shaft 13 rotates and the-link 34 is caused to move back and .forth,-the slot 37 of said link will permit the free movement of the link, but the pawl carrier; is held by the detent so that it cannotmove by.

gavity a. distance'suificientxto jcause the-pawl Mounted on an intermediate portion of a to move rearwardly over a tooth of the ratchet wheel 31. Therefore the table-elevating means is idle. As the sheets are successively removed by the suction roller 19, the knife blade 51 will gradually move downward and a corresponding movementof ,the, arm 60 will take place inasmuch as the abutment screw will press upon the finger 61 of said'arm 60. When the movement has been sufficient the detent 68 will be moved rearwardly out of the path of the tooth 71. Thereupon the pawl carrier will be free to gravitate and the pawl being thrown into action, will cause the, operation of the ratchet wheel 31 .and the table will be elevated until the feeler has again been raised to a point sufficient to cause the arm 60 to again move the detent 68 under the tooth 71.

In order to manually raise or lower the table, the shaft 30 has fixed thereto a collar '74 (see Fig. 8) and a hand wheel 75, rotatably and slidably mounted on the shaft on the outer side of the pawl carrier, is provided with a rearwardly projecting pin 76 that is adapted to engage in any of a series of sockets '77 in the collar '74 as shown in Figure 9. When so engaged, by turning the wheel 75, the shaft 30 can be manually turned and if the pawl 32 is disengaged from the ratchet wheel, the shaft can be rotated in either direction to raise or lower the table. When the pin 76 is disengaged from the collar 74, obviously the wheel will remain idle.

Attention has already been called to the fact that the rock shaft 39, which'carries the feeler arm '46, is at the rear side of the suction roller, whereas the feeler blade 51 and its mounting is on the opposite side of the suction roller. The arm 46 is'long enough to permit the blade 51 to be placed at the rear margin of the sheets of a pile that will fully occupy the table 23 as shown in Figures 1 and 14. But the apparatus is practical for use on verysmall sheets or cards, as will be clear by reference to Figure 15. That is to say, when a pile of small sheets or cards is placed in position to be operated on by the suction roller, the knife blade or feeler blade 51 can be brought up very close to the suction roller or its axis of rotation and will still be far enough from the rock shaft 39 to afford'the necessary leverage to be elevated by the pile when the latter is moved upwardly and to drop when the pile is depleted by the feeding device. Moreover the extended length; of the arm 46 when in such a position and which would obviously have considerable weight, is overcome merely by the adjustment of the counterweight 56 on its arm pressed when the detent 68 is moved towards its activeposition and the upper end of the detent should strike the end of the tooth 71, the plunger 62 which acts on thefinger 61 to cause the elevation of the arm 60, will retreat and allow the 11,;

parts .their necessary. movement notwithstanding the fact that the arm. 60 is momentarily held.

'As soon as the tooth '71 rises to clear the upper endof the detent,.thenthe spring 63 will react and operating onthe plunger 62-wi1lpress against the fingerdl, elevating the 60, and causing .thedetentto pass beneath the tooth '71;

i'Fromithe foregoing, it is thought that the cone struction, operation and manyiadvantages of the herein describedinvention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without further'descriptionand it Willbe understood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a sheet feeder, the combination with a vertically movable pile supporting table and mechanism for effecting its vertical movement including a ratchet wheel, a pawl that actuates the ratchet wheel, a pawl carrier, and means for actuating the pawl carrier, of mechanism for governing the operation of the pawl carrier including a detent, a rock shaft, a feeler arm on the rock shaft, a second arm having a yielding mounting on the rock shaft and normally swinging upon its rotation, and a connection between the second arm and the detent to cause the former to move the latter.

2. In a sheet feeder, the combination with a vertically movable pile supporting table and mechanism for effecting its vertical movement including a ratchet wheel, a pawl that actuates the ratchet wheel, a pawl carrier and means for actuating the pawl carrier, of mechanism for governing the operation of the pawl carrier including a detent, a rock shaft, a feeler arm on the rock shaft, a bracket fixed to the rock shaft, and a detent actuating arm having a swinging mounting on the rock shaft that is limited by the bracket.

3. In a sheet feeder, the combination with a vertically movable pile supporting table and mechanism for eifecting'its vertical movement including a ratchet wheel, a pawl that actuates the ratchet wheel, a pawl carrier and means for actuating the pawl carrier, of mechanism for governing the operation of the pawl carrier in-- cluding a detent, a rock shaft, a feeler arm on the rock shaft, a bracket fixed to the rock shaft, a detent actuating arm having a swinging mounting on the rock shaft, and means engaging the arm and bracket for permitting a varied limited movement of the rock shaft with respect to the arm.

4. In a sheet feeder, the combination with a vertically movable pile supporting table and mechanism for effecting its vertical movement including a ratchet wheel, a pawl that actuates the ratchet wheel, a pawl carrier, and means for actuating the pawl carrier, of mechanism for governing the operation of the pawl carrier including a detent, a rock shaft, a feeler arm on the rock shaft, a bracket fixed to the rock shaft, a detent actuating arm having a swinging mounting on the rock shaft, an adjustable abutment for the arm carried by the bracket, and a yielding abutment for the arm carried by the bracket and opposed to the adjustable abutment.

5. In a sheet feeder, the combination with a sheet feeding device and a shaft carrying the same, of means for presenting sheets to be fed to the feeding device, and mechanism for controlling the operation of the sheet presenting means including an arm that extends transversely of and above the shaft and on opposite sidesof the feeding device, a mounting for the arm at the side of the feeding device toward which the sheets are I delivered by said device, and a bearing device mounted for adjustmentalong the arm'toward and'from the feedingdeviceand located.at;.the opposite side of the feeding device to the mounting, said bearingxdevicebeing adapted to. reston the sheetsat a point remotefrom the feeder and shaft and feeding device carried thereby '.to=-a'da'pt it to different sizes of sheets.

6. In a sheet feeder, the combination with a sheet feeding device, of means for presenting sheets to be fed to the feeding device, and mechanism for controlling the operation of the sheet presenting means including an arm that extends on opposite sides of the feeding device, a mounting for the arm at the side of the feeding device toward which the sheets are delivered by said device, a bearing device mounted for adjustment along the arm toward and from the feeding device and located at the opposite side of the feeding device to the mounting, said bearing device being adapted to rest on the sheets at a point remote from the feeding device and mounting and adjustable to different sizes of sheets, and an adjustable counterbalance for the arm to compensate for the position of the bearing device in its different positions thereon.

7. In a sheet feeder, the combination with a sheet feeding device, of a rock shaft located at the side of the feeding device toward which the sheets are fed by said device, a swinging arm mounted on the rock shaft and extending to the opposite side of the feeding device, a bearing device adjustable along the arm toward and from the feeding device and being located on said opposite side thereof to the rock shaft,'said bearing device being adapted to rest on the sheets at a remote distance from the rock shaft, an oppositely extending arm connected to the rock shaft, a counterbalance adjustable along the arm to compensate for the bearing device in its different positions, means for presenting the sheets to the feeding device, and mechanism actuated by the rock shaft for controlling the operation of said sheet presenting means.

8. In a sheet feeder, the combination with a shaft and a sheet feeding device mounted thereon, of a rock shaft located at the side of the shaft and feeding device toward which the sheets are fed by said device, a swinging arm mounted on the rock shaft and extending over the shaft to the opposite side of the feeding device, a bearing device adjustable along the arm toward and from the feeding device and being located on said opposite side thereof to the rock shaft, said bearing device being adapted to rest on the sheets at a remote distance from the rock shaft, means for presenting sheets to the feeder, mechanism for actuating the sheet presenting means including a ratchet wheel, a pawl acting on the ratchet wheel,

means for moving the pawl, a detent for holding which the sheets are placed to be fed by said device, a rock shaft journaled in rear of the sheetfeeding device, a forwardly extending feeler arm mounted on the rock shaft and extending to the opposite side of the feeding device and toward the front of the table, a bearing device adjustably mounted on the arm and movable to different mounting: and adjustable toward and from the positions at different distances from the feeding device, a rearwardly extending arm connected to the rock shaft, a counterweight adjustably mounted on the rearwardly extending arm, a second forwardly extending arm mounted on the rock shaft and projecting beyond the opposite side of the feeding device, and having an up and down motion at its front end, ratchet mechanism for 

